Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination, which is a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It is any unwelcome, sexually-motivated verbal or physical conduct. The EEOC guidelines define two types of sexual harassment: "quid pro quo" and "hostile environment."

Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute "quid pro quo" sexual harassment when either of the following occur:

Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual's employment, or

Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual.

Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute "hostile environment" sexual harassment when such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.

The central inquiry is whether the conduct "unreasonably interfered with an individual's work performance" or created "an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment." The EEOC will look at the following factors to determine whether an environment is hostile:

Whether the conduct was verbal or physical or both.

How frequently it was repeated.

Whether the conduct was hostile or patently offensive.

Whether the alleged harasser was a coworker or supervisor.

Whether others joined in perpetrating the harassment.

Whether the harassment was directed at more than one individual.

Sexual conduct becomes unlawful only when it is unwelcome. The challenged conduct must be unwelcome in the sense that the employee did not solicit or incite it, and in the sense that the employee regarded the conduct as undesirable or offensive.

When confronted with conflicting evidence as to whether conduct was welcome, the EEOC will look at the record as a whole and at the totality of the circumstances, evaluating each situation on a case by case basis. The investigation should determine whether the victim's conduct was consistent, or inconsistent, with his/her assertion that the sexual conduct was unwelcome.

The victim may be anyone-- a man or a woman. The victim does not have to be of the opposite sex. The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct.

The harasser may be a woman or a man. He or she can be the victim's supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee.

It depends. In "quid pro quo" cases, a single sexual advance may constitute harassment if it is linked to the granting or denial of employment or employment benefits. In contrast, unless the conduct is quite severe, a single incident or isolated incidents of offensive sexual conduct or remarks generally do not create a "hostile environment." A hostile environment claim usually requires a showing of a pattern of offensive conduct. However, a single, unusually severe incident of harassment may be sufficient to constitute a Title VII violation; the more severe the harassment, the less need to show a repetitive series of incidents. This is particularly true when the harassment is physical. For example, the EEOC will presume that the unwelcome, intentional touching of a charging party's intimate body areas is sufficiently offensive to alter the condition of his/her working environment and constitute a "hostile environment."

Yes. The EEOC will evaluate the totality of the circumstances to ascertain the nature, frequency, context, and intended target of the remarks. Relevant factors may include:

Whether the remarks were hostile and derogatory.

Whether the alleged harasser singled out the charging party.

Whether the charging party participated in the exchange.

The relationship between the charging party and the alleged harasser.

Inform the harasser that the conduct is unwelcome and must stop. It is important for the victim to communicate that the conduct is unwelcome, particularly when the alleged harasser may have some reason to believe that the advance may be welcomed. However, a victim of harassment need not always confront his/her harasser directly, so long as his/her conduct demonstrates that the harasser's behavior is unwelcome.

Report the matter immediately to any of the following:

A supervisor.

The Director, Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity.

The DSS Inspector General's Office

DSS Employee Relations

The employee may also file an EEO complaint with the Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity (not later than 45 days from the date of the alleged discriminatory event) to risk dismissal of the complaint at the formal stage.

The impact of Sexual Harassment can be severe. It may include, but is not limited to:

Lowered employee morale

Lost productivity

Decreased efficiency

Costly investigations and litigation

Potential for substantial financial liability

Yes. The policy should be prominently posted in every DSS office. It can also be found at the Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity Intranet site. Among other things, the policy clearly states that the Director, DSS will not tolerate any type of sexual harassment at any level. The policy also advises that any substantiated complaints of sexual harassment will result in corrective administrative or disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal.